Island



(No Model.)

' P. CHASE.

LAST.

No. 565,531, Patented Aug. 11, 1896..

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK CHASE, OF lVATER-VILLE, MAINE, ASSIGNOR OF 'lWVO-THIRDS TO GORDONMOKAY, OF NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND.

LAST.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 565,531, dated August11, 1896.

Application filed September 23, 1895. Serial No. 563,328. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK CHASE, of Vaterville, county of Kennebec,State of Maine, have invented an Improvement in Lasts, of which thefollowing description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, isa specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

Boot and shoe lasts are now commonly made of wood and in some casesprovided with a metallic heel piece or plate. In practice it has beenfound that lasts of such construction cannot be successfully used in aheelingmachine, for the reason that the great pressure employed in suchmachines will, in case the heel be a trifle thick, crush the material orwood of which the last is made and thereby ruin the last.

My present invention consists in supporting the heel-piece, as claimed,upon a seatpiece, independently of the material of which the last-bodyis composed, so that when the heel of the last is subjected to greatpressure such pressure will be received directly by and upon the seatand to no extent by the interposed material of the last proper, thuspreserving the latter and the life of the last.

In the drawings, Figure 1, in side elevation, partially broken away,shows a last embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a view looking down uponthe bottom of the last with the bottom piece removed, exposing the endsof the struts b; Fig. 3, an under-side view of the heelpieoe detached;Fig. 4:, a view looking down upon the bottom of a last containing amodified form of my invention; Fig. 5, a crosssection on the dot-tedline so at, Fig. 4; Fig. 6, a view similar to Fig. 4, showing yetanother modified form of my invention; Fig. 7, a section on the dottedline :0 00, Fig. 6.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, towhich figures reference may be had, myimproved last, as there shown,comprises a body portion A, provided at its heel with the heel-piece a,herein shown as a plate of the full size and shape of the heel. Thisheel-piece a is shown as provided at its under side (see Fig. 3) with aplurality of recesses or depressions a, which receive one of the ends ofas many, preferably cylindrical, struts or pins 1), which latter attheir opposite ends in the construction shown enter similar recesses inwhat I have elected to term a seatpiece c, which may be at or near thetop of the last.

The usual spindle-sleeve d in the construction shown is carried throughboth the heelpiece and the seat-piece, and is preferably riveted orheaded over at the outside of each to hold the two against separation.

In the last shown in Figs. 1 and 2 I have provided the usual removableinstep-blockE, but the same as there shown is provided with a heelportion 6, which is extended toward the heel of the last beyond thespindle-hole, preferably quite to the heel of the last, it beingprovided with a suitable spindle-hole e, which when the block is inposition registers with the spindle-hole of the sleeve d.

The last described may be used like other lasts in the ordinary courseof business in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and when the shoeduring its manufacture reaches the heeling-machine the block E isremoved and the last placed in position upon the heelingmachine with theseat-piece a resting directly upon the last-support of the machine, andthe pressure of the heeling-machine upon the heel-piece Cb is receivedthrough the struts b directly upon and by the seat a and independentlyof the intervening material of the last proper, thus relieving thelatter of all pressure tending to crush or crack it and preventingpermanent injury of the last.

In the construction Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, the interposed struts arein the form of cylindric a1 pins, but such interposed struts or supportsneed not be in this particular form. For example, in Figs. 4: and 5 Ihave shown the heel-piece a as supported upon the seatpiece 0 by themetallic heel section or plate f, shaped to conform to and let in flushwith the contour of the last, and in Figs. 6 and 7 the interposedsupporting-piece or strut h is entirely within the body of the last andset in a saw-cut following the contour of the last. My inventiontherefore is not limited to the particular embodiments or constructionsherein shown and described, for it is evident the same may bevariedwithout departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s-

1. A last provided with a seat having a plurality of recesses, theheel-piece provided with a like number of correspondingly-arrangedrecesses, and a plurality of interposed struts resting at their ends inthe recesses of the said seat and heel-piece, and supporting the latterupon the former, substantially as described.

2. A last provided with a seat having a plurality of recesses, aheel-piece opposite thereto, and a plurality of interposed strutsresting at their ends in the recesses of the said seat and supportingthe said heel-piece upon the said seat, substantially as described.

3. A last provided with aheel-piece having a plurality of recesses, aseat opposite thereto, and a plurality of interposed struts resting attheir ends in the recesses of said heelpiece and supporting the latterupon said seat, substantially as described.

4. A last provided with aseat, aheel-piece, and a plurality ofinterposed cylindrical struts supporting the heel-piece upon the saidseat, and arranged about the center of said heel-piece substantiallyparallel to its edges, so as to evenly distribute the pressure on theheel-piece over the entire said seat, substantially as described.

5. A last provided with a seat, a heel-piece, a spindle-sleeveconnecting said seat and heel-piece and preventing separation of thetwo, anda plurality of interposed struts supporting the heel-piece uponthe said seat, and arranged about the said sleeve on all sides thereof,to evenly distribute the pressure on the heel-piece over the entireseat, substantially as described.

6. A last provided with a seat, and a heelpiece, spindle-holes in thesaid seat and heelpiece, a spindle-sleeve concentric with said holesconnecting said seat and heel-piece and preventing separation of thetwo, and a metallic support interposed between said seat and heel-pieceand arranged about said sleeve approximately parallel with the edges ofsaid seat and heel-piece, substantially as described.

7. A last having a removable instep-block provided with a portionextended rearwardly to the heel of the last substantially parallel withthe bottom of the last, a seat interposed between saidrearwardly-extended portion and the heel port-ion of the body of thelast, and a heel-piece supported upon said seat independently of thematerial of the last, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK CHASE.

\Vitnesses:

CHARLES E. HARDY, ALFD. P. THoWELL.

